Even in his first conversation with Dolly Parton in the early 1980s, Sam Haskell leaned on his Mississippi roots to connect with the country music icon.
Haskell’s job, working with the Beverly Hills talent group William Morris Agency, didn’t seem to interest her much. What piqued Parton’s interest, Haskell said, was when he told her he was from a small town called Amory and went to the University of Mississippi.
“She said, ‘Ole Miss, that’s my husband’s favorite football team. Sit down here,’” Haskell recounted to Mississippi Today. “And that’s how our relationship began.”
Years later, Haskell became Parton’s agent as she continued to write and record some of the most famous country songs of the 20th century. The duo expanded their ambition, producing television movies and winning multiple Emmy awards together.
Haskell said their professional success was grounded in their deep friendship, and that friendship was natural from their first meeting because of their shared small-town Southern roots.
“That instant connection brought trust, and brought respect, and brought friendship,” Haskell said. “And that’s what Dolly’s about.”
Sam Haskell, from left, Debbie Allen, Maria S. Schlatter, Hudson Hickman, and Joe Lazarov accept the Emmy for outstanding television movie for “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” during the third ceremony of the Television Academy’s 2021 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the L.A. LIVE Event Deck on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Los Angeles. Credit: Phil McCarten/Invision/APParton’s fans from the nation’s capital to the Appalachian hollers near where she grew up are mourning her death Tuesday at age 80. Haskell and other Mississippians are reflecting on the connection she had with this state — both her appreciation of the place and the deep admiration she garnered from its people.
Haskell saw Parton’s admiration for Mississippi constantly, especially during the 2000 edition of “Stars Over Mississippi”. It was a biannual Amory charity concert series Haskell hosted to raise money for local college scholarships. Haskell asked Parton to be the headliner of the October concert that year, and she agreed.
Long before the event, Haskell got a call from Parton. She had dialed him up from the landline phone at an ice cream shop in Amory.
“I said, ‘Dolly you don’t have to come to Amory until October,’” Haskell said. “She said, ‘I’m just here to check it out and see where you’re born.’”
Parton gave the phone to the woman working at the ice cream shop, who told Haskell about all the times he would order a double dip chocolate cone from her as a kid. As she handed the phone back to Parton, Haskell realized the woman didn’t recognize the country music icon.
“I go, ‘Dolly, does she not know who you are?’ And she went ‘uh uh,’” Haskell said. “I said, ‘How is that possible? These are your people.’ She said, ‘Oh Sam, I just take off my wig and wear a baggy shirt. Nobody knows who I am. I’ve been up in Walmart all morning.’”
But that October, 10,000 people came out to watch Parton in the “Stars Over Mississippi” concert, according to Haskell.
Amory native Dee Monaghan Howard was one of them. She wasn’t a big country music fan, but she braved the cold autumn day to watch Parton perform.
“Any time a star comes to Mississippi, it’s a big deal,” Howard said. “Especially a small town like Amory.”
And of the stars Haskell brought to Amory, Howard said Parton was the one she was most excited about.
Dolly Parton performs on NBC’s “Today” show in New York on May 13, 2014. Credit: AP Photo/Charles SykesHudson Hickman, a New Albany native and producer who worked on television hits such as “The Love Boat” and “MacGyver,” met Parton through Haskell, a longtime friend, 11 years ago. The two approached Hickman about making short movies based on her songs, starting with “Coat of Many Colors.”
Parton always wanted to make more movies, Hickman recalled, and saw her music as a vehicle for that ambition.
“ I was just kind of taken aback because I just thought, here I am, this boy from Mississippi sitting in a room with Dolly Parton, and she’s telling me that the work we’re going to be doing is going to be a dream come true for her,” he said.
Hickman remembered the legend’s glowing presence on the set of productions including “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” and “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings,” dishing out hugs to crew members and knowing everyone by name.
During one “magical” meeting he and Haskell had with Parton, Hickman said she jokingly broke into song mid-conversation.
“I don’t remember what the song was because I was just sitting there looking into her blue eyes about two feet away from me, thinking: Dolly Parton is singing a song to me,” the producer said. “I said, ‘It is the voice of an angel.'”
Despite the somber moment, Hickman conveyed an overwhelming sense of fortune.
“Of course I’m sad at her passing, but I’m just struck with a feeling of being grateful,” he said. “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her and observe up close her genius.
“She spread love wherever she went.”
Dolly Parton performs benefit concert at Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music on Aug. 26, 2023, in Philadelphia, Miss. Credit: Curtis HilbunMississippi Gov. Tate Reeves ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Parton.
“An American music icon. An even better person,” Reeves said on social media. “Mississippi is praying for Dolly Parton’s entire family.”
Her renowned philanthropic legacy has had direct benefits for Mississippians. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends books to children across the country, coordinating with dozens of organizations in Mississippi. The Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy chose Parton for its 2020 Legacy Award, an honor reserved for those who embody the values of philanthropy, leadership and mentorship.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed Parton from accepting the award until 2022, an event at which she surprised the audience by playing two songs. Elizabeth Randall, chair of the women’s council at the time, told Mississippi Today in an email Wednesday that Parton’s values represented the very best of what the award aims to recognize.
“Even Dolly’s willingness to come to Ole Miss was an act of philanthropy,” Randall said, adding that it was a testament to the friendship between her and Haskell and his wife, Mary. “That was so characteristic of Dolly. She showed up for people she loved.”
Parton directly lent her public image to others’ charitable efforts as well, including many directed to help Mississippi. Haskell said that when he co-chaired fundraising campaigns for different colleges, including the University of Mississippi, Parton offered to help out in a way only she could.
“She would always tell me, ‘Just auction off a dinner with me,'” Haskell said. “‘Just tell them you can have dinner with Dolly, and see how much you can get.'”
Haskell said those “Dinners with Dolly” would be auctioned for up to $75,000, all of which would go straight to the fundraisers.
Her music made a strong impression on Mississippians across the state, as well. In the fall of 1972, long before Malcolm White started booking artists at Hal & Mal’s restaurant in Jackson, he drove up to Nashville to see a Grateful Dead concert at Vanderbilt’s campus. White hung around the stage after the show, until he had a chance to speak to lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
White asked Garcia what music he’d been listening to lately. The guitarist told him about a country artist and an album White had never heard of.
“He didn’t miss a beat,” White said. “He turned and said, ‘You got to get Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of Many Colors.’”
White, who later led the Mississippi Arts Commission, said he bought the album as soon as he got back to Mississippi, and he still has that same copy over 50 years later. “Coat of Many Colors” has since become one of his all-time favorite records. It helped him realize that a lot of the rock music he loved listening to — from the Grateful Dead to Jimi Hendrix — had country roots from artists like Parton.
Country singer Dolly Parton appears at a rehearsal session in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1982. Credit: AP Photo/Mark HumphreyThe album’s tile song tells the story of Parton as a young girl, when her mother stitched together a coat made of rags. Parton recounts feeling pride despite other schoolchildren mocking her — a message White said resonated with what he saw growing up in rural Stone County.
“It just reminded me of kind of where I came from,” he said. “I think everybody connected with her in their own unique way, because she lived so long and had so many lives and so many careers.”
Parton maintained her Mississippi connections in recent years. On Aug. 26, 2023, she performed a benefit concert at the Congress of Country Music, developed by her friend and country music icon Marty Stuart, in the east Mississippi town of Philadelphia. The venue was smaller than those where Parton normally played, but she felt it was important to do the concert as a favor for Stuart and his wife, country music singer and songwriter Connie Smith.
“The Congress of Country Music benefited greatly from the concert she performed inside our hallowed walls in Philadelphia, Mississippi,” the venue said in a statement. “She did it out of her love for Marty and Connie, with a smile on her face and a song in her heart to help support the cause of preserving the history of country music. We will always love you, Dolly.”
For Haskell, the connection runs deeper than most. Parton was close with much of his family, and Haskell said she would dote on his three young grandchildren. When they were moving from California to Mississippi, she would speak to each of them separately to see how they were handling the big transition.
Just before Parton performed for a 2023 NFL Thanksgiving halftime game dressed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Haskell said she called him up with a message.
“‘Get those boys in front of the television, because they’re about to see Aunt Dolly like they’ve never seen before,’” Haskell recalled.
Whether reflecting on Parton’s nationally televised performances or the small moments of laughter and wisdom she shared with his family, Haskell is working to figure out how best to mourn his friend of nearly five decades.
“It’s just devastating to our whole family. She was part of our family.”
Dolly Parton speaks to a audience gathered to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 27, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Timothy D. EasleyHence then, the article about these are your people mississippians reflect on their special connection with dolly parton was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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